How an iconic LA art museum prepared itself for devastating wildfires

The wildfire-prone Santa Monica Mountains might sound like a terrible location for a billion dollar museum containing priceless works of art. But when Los Angeles’ Getty Center was conceived by its board in the late 1980’s, they were well aware of the risk.

In fact, the fire currently raging across the highway from the Getty as of Wednesday is exactly the scenario the museum was built to withstand since it first opened its doors in 1997.

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The center uses a variety of architectural and design techniques to mitigate the adverse affects of wildfires. “When the Getty was designed and built 20 years ago, it was designed in such a way to actually protect the collection from disasters, like a fire,” said Ron Hartwig, the Getty’s vice president of communications. Read more…